Lucky Curses Ch 1
by Sunflowerprinting
Summary: After a one night stand ends poorly, Arthur puts a curse on his one time bed mate. Only to find that Alfred is far more susceptible to his 'charms' than he ever intended. Wizard!ArthurXAlfred AU
1. Chapter 1

_New story! I would love if any readers could let me know what they think, and if they would be interested in seeing this continued. I am so grateful for anyone taking the time to try out this little story of mine, and I hope you get some enjoyment out of it!_

The music pulsated around the sweaty dancers. It was loud, to the point of being unpleasant, but not quite there. Arthur moved his way lithely through the crowd, bumping up against people with a shoulder or a hip, the music making him sway as though he was consumed by the rhythm instead of just partaking in the festivities. A flash of gold caught his eye over the heads of his fellow dances, and all at once his dance had direction. Pushing his way subtly through the sea of bodies he found himself face to face with what must have been in some previous life a Greek god. His blond hair was swept over his forehead in a way that made Arthur think he must have spent half hour in front of the mirror to look so casual, and his blue eyes sparkled almost eerily clear in such a dark room. His blue jeans hugged him just enough, and his red t-shirt was not quite clinging to his obviously well built torso. If Arthur was a schoolgirl, he would have swooned. As it was though, he only smirked and edged his body closer. They didn't need words to communicate their meaning, and even if they had tried the music was too loud for verbal communication. Arthur's hips were swaying too close for it to be accidental, and the blond stranger's hands had started to roam in a way that gave little doubt as to what would happen. When the music gave a dip in volume between songs, Arthur turned abruptly and pushed his lips against his dance partner's, pushing them both back towards the door. The flash of doubt that erupted briefly in his head was immediately squashed at the sensation of a smile curving against his mouth. They both wanted this. Tumbling through the door of the night club, they wasted only a moment in seeing each other in the light before hailing a taxi and going back to Arthur's place. The ride was over before they knew it, as distracted as they both had been by the sensation of another's tongue in their mouths. It was a pleasant distraction. It was a flurry of motion that propelled them into the apartment building, into the elevator, and to the top floor where Arthur's apartment was located. As he scrambled for his keys, he let himself ask breathlessly "What's your name?" The other man laughed. It vibrated lightly through the halls, an unexpectedly loud and vaguely obnoxious but potentially endearing laugh. "Alfred." Was the response. "Arthur" the shorter man offered. And then they were inside, and words were no longer a concern. Alfred's hands were everywhere, his mouth, his tongue. Arthur pulled them towards the bed, leaving a trail of clothes from the both of them strewn across the floor like breadcrumbs. And then they were engulfed by the blankets and the heat and each other. Arthur couldn't tell if it was going too fast or too slow, or just perfect, but he knew it was better than he could have imagined. His skin was on fire, and he was sure Alfred felt the same way by how he moved and blushed under his hands.

The night was a blur, and before he knew it, Arthur was rolling over in his bed, stretching his arm out, his eyes still closed from sleep. It wasn't until his arm hit air and cold bed sheets that his eyes snapped open. Where was he? Arthur jerked his head up, and gazed dazedly around the room. Surely he hadn't gone without a word, or note. He slipped from between the sheets, shimmying into a pair of shorts lying discarded on the floor. "Alfred?" He called tentatively. His voice echoed, lonely in the house. There was no response. What started out as a slight discomfort in his stomach shortly swiftly into anger. He had thought they had a connection. It wasn't as though he put any sort of importance on a one night stand, he just wanted to at least be dignified with a farewell. After strutting around his apartment angrily, finding further proof that Alfred had left without so much as a note goodbye, Arthur had finally reached the boiling point.

"Well that's bloody well and good then. You don't give me the time of day after a rather lovely shag, then I'll be obliged to return the favor. I curse you, Alfred...whatever your last name was, you tosser!" He grabbed at the pillow on what had been Alfred's side of the bed, and scoured it for the tiny bit of evidence that Alfred had been there at all. "Aha!" There it was. A minuscule blond hair, still clinging to the white cotton spread. Arthur seized it with vicious gusto, pinching it between his first finger and thumb as he carried it to the kitchen. He pulled a large, bound volume from beneath the counter, heaving it to the top, and letting it fall open to a certain page. The hair safely resting in a large container, he scoured the parchment, fiendishly running his finger down the lines of tiny print. At last he paused, his eyes lighting up with an evil glint. "Perfect." He hissed. The kitchen became a flurry of movement, a pinch of this, a dash of that, and a cloud of smoke began to billow up over the pot now bubbling on the stove. It spread through the room, mingling with Arthur's maniacal laughter. "You thought you could just come over, sleep with me, share a meaningful experience, that didn't mean anything to me, but you could at least have said goodbye!" It didn't matter that he was rambling, his fingers were still following the lines of the page. And then he was muttering incantations, there was a flash of light, and it was done. A calm settled over the kitchen, the smoke dissipating like fog on a clear morning. Arthur stood stock still in the center of the room. He had placed the curse, a terrible curse, but where he had hoped for some sort of relief, he only felt a sense of quiet emptiness. Swiftly, he cleaned up the countertop, discarding the evidence of what had been done, and storing the large book of spells safely back beneath the counter.


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm so grateful to everyone who favorited and followed my little story! And to my reviewers, thank you! You're my first ever reviews :3 I forgot to say in the first chapter, but this story is a sort of collaboration with a friend of mine. We do the basic plot together, and then I write it out and fill in details. So I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feedback of any sort would be greatly appreciated!_

The next morning, Alfred stood before his bathroom mirror, running his fingers through his hair. He grimaced at the sight of the dark purple bags under his eyes. He closed them briefly, allowing himself to reminisce on the previous evening. He let his mind simulate the beats from the club, and that tuft of blond hair that crowned that sinfully charming British man, who had led him home. A smile tugged at the sides of his lips when he thought of the night they had spent together. It had only been a one night stand but...he wished he had been able to get his phone number. His full name. There was something about the man that had drawn Alfred in, and he couldn't help but want more of him. His face drew together as he remembered how he had been woken by the vibration of his cell phone, the blindingly bright screen stinging his bleary eyes as he read that his brother was in the hospital. He had snuck out of Arthur's apartment at close to 4 in the morning, taken a cab to the hospital. His brother Matt had been sitting up in bed, eating a jello cup when he walked in. The bastard only had a broken leg. Alfred was relieved, obviously. He loved his brother, was happy to see him lolling about in front of the television. But the missed opportunity to wake up next to Arthur, his hair all messy from sleep and their physical activity, the eventual shared breakfast of coffee eggs and bacon seemed to nag at the tall blond the rest of the day. He gave his brother a whack on the arm for good measure, garnering a loud whine and a threat to "come at me in the hockey rink, dipshit" for his efforts. But now, standing in front of his bathroom mirror, he just felt tired. Opening his eyes at last, Alfred looked in the mirror and promptly shrieked. Where the shower curtain should have been, behind him, now there was a wave of hamburgers. Interspersed were crowds of adoring fans, and flashes from cameras kept going off from different angles. There were bright lights, and the distant twang of country music filled the air, and the Golden Arches of McDonald's rose like the gates of heaven behind him. Alfred was overwhelmed by the sights, smells, and sounds. But when he whipped around to confirm, there was just his bathroom. The confusion was intense. It was only when his head started to hurt from turning it back and forth too fast that he forced himself to leave the bathroom and sink exhaustedly onto his bed.

Alfred showing up at Arthur's door was a surprise. It had been a couple days, and Arthur had fully expected never to hear from the tall blond from the club again. So when the doorbell rang, and he peeked through the peephole to see a pair of clear blue eyes staring back at him, he couldn't help but jump. The flips his stomach did were probably only a product of the unexpected visit, not because he was happy to see him or anything. When he opened the door, Alfred gave a big grin and swung his arms open a bit, almost like he was presenting himself. "Hey there Artie! Man, I hope you don't mind me showing up out of nowhere like this. I didn't catch your number last time, and I couldn't figure out a better way to get in contact with you...so here I am." He trailed off with a light chuckle, slightly more unsure than when he started speaking. Arthur could only stare. At last he took a deep breath, and moved to slam the door. Alfred was too quick for him and stuck his foot between the door and it's frame.

"Oh _fuck_!" He exclaimed when the door made contact.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Arthur raised his voice slightly to the taller blond.

"Look, I take it you're not very happy to see me, that's fine. But I really thought we had a nice time the other night, and I guess I have to ask if I was so wrong about that. Was it something I did...?" Arthur eased up off the door and paused. He was caught somewhere between confusion and anger. How could this bloke not know what he had done? At last he opened the door fully once more, frown lines etched deep into his forehead, drawing unwanted attention to his exceptionally large eyebrows. Alfred stifled a giggle. Arthur began to seethe.

"You don't know what you did? You great bloody tosser I'll tell you what you did! You snuck out in the middle of the night! No goodbye, no note, not a single word, just _gone_!" The blue eyed man before him began shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "I did mean to explain about-" "And that's why I put a curse on you." Alfred blinked. Surely he had heard wrong.

"I'm sorry...a what?" "A curse." The look Arthur shot his way after having to repeat himself was nothing short of withering. It shifted slightly then to one of concern. "Surely it should have gone into effect by now, you would have noticed..." He trailed off, absorbed into his own thoughts, before walking abruptly away from the open door, back towards the kitchen. Alfred stood stock still for a moment, finally pushing the door open and hesitantly following Arthur into the recesses of the apartment. He was disinclined to say anything, despite the conflict with his usual chatty nature. The sight of Arthur standing at the counter, pouring over a large aged book full of slanted, impossible to read words stirred up a sort of discomfort in Alfred similar to the feelings he experienced while watching scary movies. The only upside was that he still found Arthur undeniably attractive. All at once Arthur's head jerked up, and he glared at Alfred. "The curse should have worked. Are you _sure_ it didn't?" A weird desire to placate the green eyed man welled up inside the taller blond, and he cleared his throat carefully. "Well, ah, maybe it did...what exactly was the curse..?" He had to bite his tongue to keep from listing various traits like "strikingly handsome" or "in peak physical condition". Arthur took a deep breath, and the light in the room seemed to dim, a mysterious mist rolling in at the edges. "You were curses to see your greatest aspirations reflected in each mirror you passed, only to turn your head and be faced with the dark truth of your reality. This would continue until the greatest one of your dreams came true, but until then you would be driven mad by the image, tauntingly close and yet achingly far." Alfred started, recognizing what had happened that very morning as the curse. "That was _you!?_ " He exclaimed. "God, I've been THIS close to driving myself to the psych ward for that! Well thank god!" He started to laugh boisterously, the sound reverberating off the walls of the small apartment. "I thought I was insane, but it's just a curse!" Arthur began to seethe. Once Alfred had calmed down a bit, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes with one finger, he looked up at Arthur. His eyes shimmered slightly, a strikingly clear blue. "So can you take it off?" Arthur jolted, his face turning red. "E-excuse me?!"

"The curse. Can you take it off?" Arthur instantly scowled, quelling his embarrassment in favor of his more customary anger.

"Of course not, you imbecile. The curse is there because you deserve it. You snuck out in the middle of the night, for god's sake!" Alfred's face fell, and he looked genuinely remorseful.

"Hey, look, I'm really sorry about that, man. My brother got himself sent to the hospital, and I just got the message and had to rush over there. I didn't want to wake you so early, so I just left, thinking I'd call you later, but then I realized I didn't have your number and was kinda screwed. Really. I didn't mean to upset you. I don't know about you, but I had a really great time that night." His explanation left Arthur's face quizzical, his insides twisted in confusion. So he hadn't just abandoned him in the night? It was an emergency? He shook his head violently. No. The man had to go. He deserved the curse, no matter the circumstances. Arthur walked purposefully around the kitchen counter, and began to usher Alfred back through the apartment towards the door.

"Hey, wait! What're you doing?"

"You have to go. I'm not removing the curse. Come on now, out with you!" Arthur pushed lightly on Alfred's chest until he was fully out the door, and he could proceed to close the door before the taller man could even fully process what was happening. "Farewell." Through the closed door, the shorter man could hear an energetic voice pressed right up against the wood.

"I'm going to come back, ok? And I still want to get your number!" Even after the footsteps had ceased to echo through the hallway, Arthur remained leaned up against the door. If anyone asked whether or not he was thinking about how warm and firm the others chest had been, however, he would have denied it fiercely.


End file.
